Most Popular
-
1
Opposition-led Assembly unilaterally passes bill to probe Marine's death
-
2
Inflation eases in April, continues bumpy ride
-
3
Golden chance to liquidate babies’ gold rings?
-
4
Seoul to more than double military drones by 2026 to counter NK threats
-
5
Russia sent more than 165,000 barrels of refined petroleum to N. Korea in March: White House
-
6
Seoul alerts overseas missions to NK terror threats
-
7
Over 60% of S. Koreans support W100m childbirth incentive: survey
-
8
Key suspects grilled over alleged abuse of power in Marine death inquiry
-
9
‘Inside Out 2’ adds four new emotions, explores teenage life
-
10
Questions raised over fair promotion of RM, NewJeans
-
S. Korea, ADB to hold startup road show this week
South Korea and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) plan to co-host a road show this week with an aim to facilitate Korean startups' foray into the Asia-Pacific region and find ways to promote sustainable growth of developing nations, the finance ministry said Monday. The ADB Ventures Korean Roadshow will be held Friday both via YouTube streaming and at Dream Plus in Seoul's southern district of Gangnam, according to the finance and SME ministries. At the event, the Korean government plans to pro
Dec. 6, 2021
-
Kyobo Life demands punishment of Deloitte Anjin accountants
Kyobo Life Insurance, one of South Korea's leading life insurers, said Monday that it has requested a reinvestigation into and punishment of some accountants of Deloitte Anjin accused of conspiring to inflate the prices of a put option that one of its strategic investors exercised years earlier. In October 2018, Affinity Equity Partners exercised a put option on 6 million shares in Kyobo Life Insurance at a strike price of 409,000 won ($345) per share after the insurer failed to deliver on its
Dec. 6, 2021
-
[Graphic News] No. of Koreans with assets over W1b climbs 10%
Amid liquidity-driven booms in the real estate and stock markets during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of people with assets of more than 1 billion won ($838,000) increased by over 10 percent last year from a year earlier, a report showed. The number of Koreans with financial assets worth over 1 billion won stood at 390,000 last year, taking up 0.76 percent of the total population, according to the Korea Wealth Report 2021 released by KB Financial Group Research Institute. The lat
Dec. 6, 2021
-
S. Korea, ASEAN agree to quicken customs procedure for their FTA
South Korea and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to address sticky issues in customs procedures for better implementation of their free trade agreement (FTA), the finance ministry said Monday. Under the agreement, South Korean firms will be able to receive tariff benefits if they submit a copy of certificates of origin when they export goods to the 10 member states of ASEAN, according to the Ministry of Economy and Finance. Korean exporters have had difficulties a
Dec. 6, 2021
-
Seoul stocks open lower on omicron concerns
South Korean stocks opened steeply lower Monday, tracking losses on Wall Street that stemmed from worries about the omicron variant of the coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) fell 30.26 points, or 1.02 percent, to 2,938.07 points in the first 15 minutes of trading. Stocks came off to a weak start, led by foreign and institutional sell-offs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average retreated 0.17 percent, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite declined 1.92 percent amid r
Dec. 6, 2021
-
Small merchants' sentiment dips for Dec. amid soaring coronavirus cases
South Korean small merchants' business confidence worsened for December in the wake of a surge in coronavirus infections, a poll showed Monday. The Small Enterprise and Market Service said its business survey index (BSI) for small merchants came to 85.4 for this month, down 2.2 points from the previous month. It marks the first time in four months that the small merchants' BSI has gone down from the previous month. A reading below 100 means pessimists outnumber optimists. The survey of 2,400
Dec. 6, 2021
-
Growth of insurance firms' lending slows in Q3
South Korean insurance companies saw their lending grow at a slower pace in the third quarter from three months earlier due to tougher rules on household loans, data showed Monday. Insurers' outstanding loans totaled 262.4 trillion won ($222 billion) as of the end of September, up 2.1 trillion won from the prior quarter, according to the data from the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS). Yet the figure was down from the on-quarter increase of 5.2 trillion won in the previous quarter. From a ye
Dec. 6, 2021
-
SK, Swedish private equity chiefs discuss future industries
SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won met with Conni Jonsson, founder and chairperson of Swedish private equity firm EQT Partners, and discussed expanding ties on future industries, such as green energy and health care, officials said Sunday. In the meeting held Friday in Seoul, Chey told Jonsson about the conglomerate’s efforts in reducing carbon emissions, improving transparency in governance and creating both economic and social values, they said. “South Korea is a leader in hydrogen
Dec. 5, 2021
-
Food, Beverages price grow 5% in Q3, marking 5th-steepest among OECD
Prices of groceries and nonalcoholic beverages in Korea rose 5 percent on-year in the July-September period, marking the fifth-largest increase among OECD nations, data showed Sunday. According to data from Statistics Korea and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, prices of food and beverages grew even higher last month on-year at 6.1 percent on the back of strong price increases of agricultural and processed products. The quarterly price growth of food and beverages w
Dec. 5, 2021
-
High earners report 19% asset increase in pandemic-hit 2021
High-income households in South Korea -- those who earn between 70 million won ($59,000) and 120 million won before tax annually -- saw their assets increase by 19 percent, or 150 million won on average, from last year, a study showed Sunday. According to the study conducted by Woori Financial Research Institute, which is run by Woori Financial Group, its 4,000 clients classified as “mass affluent” saw their assets rise to 917 million won on average. The size of debt on avera
Dec. 5, 2021
-
Rider shortage driving up cost of your order
Food delivery apps saw their users decline after South Korea entered the first phase of the “living with COVID-19” scheme last month. But amid growing competition and a push by delivery apps for “one order per trip” to promise a speedy service, a delivery rider shortage is likely behind the rising cost of your order, industry sources said. According to IGAWorks’ mobile index, Android phone users who used delivery apps Baemin and Yogiyo dropped by 8.9 and 7.5 perc
Dec. 5, 2021
-
[ESG Talk] Implant basic principles of ESG, competitiveness in 2022
Companies are facing a stricter and more standardized ESG business environment. Recently, the Korean state-run bodies have released the K-ESG guidelines, or guidelines for domestic players to abide by. As 2021 ends, reputable ESG rating agencies are publishing ESG scores in Korea. One of the most famous rankers globally is MSCI, and its ESG ratings recently added the new climate change section as part of their rating systems. The newly included ”Implied Temperature Rise“ element trac
Dec. 5, 2021
-
Daesang bags 2 prizes at Korea Advertising Awards
An advertisement campaign from Daesang took home two honors at the Korea Advertising Awards this year, according to the food company on Sunday. Founded in 1994, the Korea Advertising Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in the industry here. Some 2,000 advertisements are submitted for consideration each year, the organizers said. An advertisement series of Daesang’s “Anjuya” products -- ready-made side dishes to be paired with alcohol -- received two nominatio
Dec. 5, 2021
-
Firms delay return to office, meal kits for year-end dinners amid omicron spread
A rapidly spreading fear over the omicron variant of the coronavirus has forced big corporations in South Korea to adopt stricter in-office quarantine guidelines again and restrict overseas business trips, casting a shadow over their business plans for next year. An increase in confirmed omicron variant infections has pushed the South Korean government to tighten its eased quarantine rules under their ‘living with COVID-19’ scheme, which kicked off Nov. 1. Starting Monday, the
Dec. 5, 2021
-
[Newsmaker] S. Korea to increase number of highway EV chargers to over 1,000
South Korea will increase the number of electric vehicle chargers at highway service areas nationwide to over 1,000 by the end of 2022, the transport ministry said Sunday. Currently, there are 435 EV chargers at the country's highway rest stops. The government plans to increase the number to 730 by the end of this month and then add more than 300 chargers next year, it said in a press statement. The move is meant to help meet rising demand for EVs and the charging infrastructure, as the gover
Dec. 5, 2021
-
FSC puts top priority on bringing household debt growth to pre-pandemic levels
The head of South Korea's top financial regulator has said he will make continued efforts to bring household debt growth down to pre-pandemic levels, as fast increasing debt has emerged as a major risk that could threaten the country's economy. Koh Seung-beom, chief of the Financial Services Commission (FSC), still noted he will use some "flexibility" in managing the debt issue by taking into consideration economic, financial market situations and minimizing hurdles for people in actu
Dec. 5, 2021
-
US keeps S. Korea on monitoring list for currency practices
The United States said Friday that it is keeping South Korea on its list of countries to be monitored for currency practices. The US Treasury Department named 11 other countries, including China and Japan, on the monitoring list in its semiannual report to Congress. It, however, said none of the countries were found to have purposefully intervened in currency markets for unfair gains. "Pursuant to the 2015 Act, Treasury has also established a Monito
Dec. 4, 2021
-
Seoul stocks likely to face volatility next week on omicron scare
South Korean stocks are likely to continue to face volatility next week as investors take to the sidelines amid the spreading omicron strain of the coronavirus. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) closed at 2,968.33 points Friday, up 1.09 percent from 2,936.44 points a week ago. The KOSPI plunged Monday and Tuesday in the wake of the first confirmed cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19 in South Korea and other countries, fanning concerns majo
Dec. 4, 2021
-
Seoul stocks up for 3rd day on foreign buying
South Korean stocks advanced for a third consecutive session Friday, backed by strong foreign buying. The Korean won fell against the US dollar. The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (Kospi) rose 23.06 points, or 0.78 percent, to close at 2,968.33 points. Trading volume was moderate at about 478 million shares worth some 10.1 trillion won ($8.6 billion), with gainers outnumbering losers 807 to 95. Foreigners bought a net 157 billion won and institutions purchased 89 billion won, whi
Dec. 3, 2021
-
Korean testing kit makers confident they can detect omicron
Amid worries over the omicron variant of COVID-19, Korean testing kit makers showed confidence in their equipment’s ability to detect the new virus variant, pushing up their stock prices again. GreenCross Medical Science said Friday that the effectiveness of its COVID-19 testing kit has been confirmed for the new omicron variant as well. In order to assess the validity of the result from its testing equipment, GCMS conducted the ‘in-silico’ experiment, which refers to a typ
Dec. 3, 2021